Journey, middle of day three. We are at a kind of dumpy Howard Johnsons just west of Denver. We left my cousin Jeanne's at about 8:30 this morning (Mountain time) despite the fact that an expected blizzard was just beginning. We wanted to give it a shot, and kept repeating a mantra that has become our theme to the trip "you gotta have faith". But after an hour sitting still on Highway 70 with the wind howling, the snow blowing, the road very icy and with a big accident ahead of us that had completely stopped traffic, we jumped across to a frontage road and careened down the road, the windshield was full of ice and in a complete whiteout. Can you say "idiots"? With Garmin's help (a close personal friend of Chuck's) we were able to find this "wonderful" hotel. We had gone 59 miles in three hours. This was not a recipe for getting across the Rocky Mountains. Evidently faith can only get you so far in a blizzard. There is always tomorrow or as Rick said "we'll always have Paris".

Jeanne was a wonderful and gracious hostess. We spent yesterday afternoon talking, sharing and catching up on what has happened in the last 15-20 years. She has a beautiful home with a great view of the north Colorado prairie. Despite only seeing her a few times in the last 45 years, I feel connected in ways only possible because of our youthful friendship. Her obvious devotion to home and family has been greatly rewarded. Her husband Dwayne is a good man, a wonderful provider, a straight talker and kind of a smart ass, just my kind of man. The food and accommodations were worlds ahead of where I am right now. Thank you Jeanne, you are a kind and loving woman.

If we don't get on the road tomorrow, I am sure I will have a very bad attitude. There is nothing stimulating about a hotel room, right Ray? It feels a bit like prison to me. Who the heck could have expected that the vector of my first trip across the Rockies in four years would coincide with the worst snowstorm in the area in three years. I think I should buy a powerball ticket.
Observation: in Wyoming I saw a cowboy, in Colorado I saw the Rockies (through a lot of snowflakes) but in Nebraska I never saw a Cornhusker, just a lot of dead grass and roadkill. What the hell is a cornhusker anyway and why should I care?